Team Press Releases

Bruno and Dooley Racing Continue Forward Progress Mike Bruno, team leader of Bruno and Dooley Racing, experienced his best outing thus far in 2006. Bruno qualified his Rick Jones built 2006 GTO in the number 11 spot with a 6.47 at only 210 MPH. This set up a first round meeting with a fellow member of FBI, Tony Gillig. While Mike came up short, he definitely gave Gillig, one of IHRA’s best Pro Stock drivers, all he could handle. A Thursday test session revealed some ignition gremlins in the Cavalier driven by Tim Dooley which were solved thanks to MSD. Unfortunately, the issues with the ignition left the team guessing on a tune up during the first two qualifying shots in Milan. Rookie driver, Tim Dooley, admitted that it...

TOP FUEL POINTS LEADER TROXEL MARKS FIRST ANNIVERSARY WITH DSR IN DENVER MORRISON, Colo. (July 11, 2006) - Melanie Troxel has had a remarkable year with Don Schumacher Racing since rejoining the team (following a brief stint with DSR in 2000) full-time last year at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. This weekend's event at Bandimere Speedway will mark her one-year anniversary with DSR and will bring Troxel home to her native Colorado, where she was born and raised in Littleton. Driving the Skull Shine/Knoll Gas-Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel dragster, Troxel has led the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel points standings since the first race of the season, became the first NHRA Top Fuel driver to reach the final round in the...

MOPAR MERCHADISE TRAILER, DAIMLERCHRYSLER CONCEPT VEHICLES TO APPEAR AT MOPAR BIG BLOCK PARTY Center Line, Mich. - Race fans attending the Mopar Big Block Party on Thursday, July 13, will get an up-close view at some of DaimlerChrysler's hottest new concept vehicles. The Challenger, Gladiator, Hornet and Rampage concept vehicles are sure to catch the eyes of partygoers in downtown Golden, Colorado. The vehicles will also be on display at Bandimere Speedway for the duration of the 27th Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. Mopar will also debut its latest attraction, a new merchandise trailer, which will give partygoers and race fans a chance to purchase Mopar gear on-site from the Mopar Big Block Party and racing event. The...

Brian Olatunji Remains Upbeat Despite Motor City Nationals Upset Milan, MI -- July 10, 2006 – Brian Olatunji and team Leadfoot Motorsports made a most valiant showing at the Suzuki Motor City Nationals, held July 7-9, 2006. The burnouts were sensational, the engine roared to perfection, qualifying went well and the 1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo held up by Toyo tires sat fiercely at the starting line, only to be beaten by a 50 cent piece of equipment that popped off right before the take off of the ‘purple rocket’ on Saturday afternoon. “It’s disappointing to say the least… Unfortunately, the o-ring on the Trans dipstick tube failed causing Trans fluid to get onto the track, but this is drag racing…things happen, you learn and you move...

NHRA Newsmakers Your inside glimpse at the world’s fastest motorsport WHO’S HOT? TONY SCHUMACHER: Coming off his win two weeks ago in St. Louis, Schumacher hopes to get right back in the thick of the Top Fuel chase with back-to-back wins at Bandimere Speedway near Denver. That would be back-to-back wins in 2006 and at Bandimere Speedway. Schumacher won the 2005 race by defeating Morgan Lucas in record-setting fashion. He set a new track mark for speed in the final round by going 331.45 mph. Although Schumacher is sitting in sixth place in the POWERade points standings, 250 points behind Melanie Troxel, he feels like he now has the momentum to make up the deficit if he can come up with a string of second-half wins. NEWS...

Herbert seeking a solid performance at the Mile-High Nationals DENVER, CO, pre-race: Doug Herbert and the Snap-on Tools Top Fuel Racing team will begin the famous three-race NHRA western swing beginning this weekend with the running of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. Herbert will be seeking to get back into contention for the POWERade championship with a solid outing at the mile high facility. The Snap-on Tools team has had several weeks to regain their championship-caliber form following a rare non-qualifying effort by Herbert at the previous event in St. Louis. It was the first time Herbert missed the field in almost three years. The 38-year-old veteran driver is slipped just one point out of the Top...

MOPAR TO ANNOUNCE 2006 MOPOWERED ENGINE BUILDER CHALLENGE CHAMPION DURING MOPAR MILE-HIGH NATIONALS Center Line, Mich. - When Mopar set out to find the baddest Mopar small block engine builder last December, the brand knew it would have some serious competition for the title. Encouraging builders to try their hand at building a high-performance, naturally aspirated Mopar small block rocket that's both streetable and affordable, Mopar selected six tuners to try their luck in the 2006 MoPowered Engine Builder Challenge. Mopar began accepting entries for the 2006 MoPowered Engine Builder Challenge during the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Orlando, Fla., in December of 2005. All entries were reviewed by Mopar personnel...

TEAM MOPAR NHRA PRO STOCK FIELD DEEP FOR DENVER EVENT Center Line, Mich. - When qualifying for the 27th Annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals begins on Friday, July 14, Team Mopar will have one of the deepest fields in the series' recent events. Of the 23 pre-entries posted for the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Series event at Bandimere Speedway, nine will be propelled by Mopar/HEMI power. "The resurgence of HEMI power in the NHRA Pro Stock series has led to the record number of teams competing under the Mopar umbrella," said Kevin Miller, Senior Manager, Mopar Brand Performance & Motorsports. "Having earned the No. 1 qualifier position three times in the last four events, we're very proud of the caliber of all of our teams. We're also...

<img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b72/Deby706/G_Scelzi.jpg"align="left"borders="0"/>SCELZI WANTS TO CROSS DENVER OFF HIS LIST MORRISON, Colo. (July 10, 2006) - Reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi still has that short list of venues on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series circuit at which he can't claim he's won. And Denver - actually Morrison, Colo., where Bandimere Speedway is located - is one of them. The others are Englishtown, N.J., and Gainesville, Fla. So, he'd like to cross Denver off that list and win this weekend's Mopar Mile-High Nationals for Mopar, the primary sponsor of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger Funny Car he drives for Don Schumacher Racing. The Fresno, Calif...